IC 2:1; 33^rd Sunday, Year A; November 17, 2002

It doesn’t sit well with our American-minded way of thinking to be told that God has not created all men equal. The parable of the talents recalls that God has apportioned his gifts to each one according to his good pleasure, accordingBas the reading saysBto the capacity of each man. These Atalents@ are gifts of: intellectual ability, physical health, strength, beauty, special aptitudes for diverse forms of creativity, and the various circumstances of life and fortune. God knows his generosity towards every man and this parable shows His high expectation: that we increaseBby hard workBthe good things we have received. But, in my short list of divine endowments, there was one class of goods I didn’t mention. These are those spiritual gifts and capabilities we have as Catholics. From the rich initial graces of baptism to the daily inspirations of the Holy Spirit, we have been on the receiving end of an effusion of divine favorsB>graces= we call themBspiritual blessings that the Lord, in His goodness, never ceases to pour out of Him. Just to give an idea of God=s largess, his liberality, I mention here only a few of these: sanctifying grace, actual graces, theological virtues, moral virtues, gifts of the Holy Spirit, fruits of the Holy Spirit, the dwelling of God in the soul, the intercessory power of the Church, the guardianship of our holy angels, the sacraments and sacramentals, the availability of God in the Blessed Sacrament, the many forms of prayer, and....much more. All these are ours, they are free gifts we had no right to claim, but are proofs of God=s love for us, unworthy members of His holy Catholic Church.

Our concentration today is directed on the particular gift we call the Ainterior life.@ Jesus Himself said that God=s kingdom is something within. So, although we all must be occupied with the business of living in the world, there is another and higher aspect of life that ought to be our primary concern. And it is this: Jesus comes to us and dwells in our hearts with all His glory and beauty and reigns there as a king in his castle. Anyone who devotes himself to pursuing a spiritual life has special friendship with Christ, so deep at times that the bible and spiritual writers speak of it as a kind of >marriage= between God and the soul. If you have ever had the joyful experience of knowing the presence of Jesus in your heartBand I fear that there are some Catholics who have no idea of what I am talking about hereBbut if you have ever tasted the sweetness of belonging to Jesus you know his goodness, his refreshing peace, and His happiness that exceeds any other form of the word. When you have Jesus, you are a rich man. You have an inner source of security and strength. Unlike human friendships, the Lord=s is constant, reliable, enduring. If one puts his complete trust in human persons, he is bound to be disappointed. That=s not because people aren=t good= it=s only that people are not entirely good. Everyone has

defect and limitation. Jesus, on the other hand, is the only one who is all-good, and the source of every good. He=ll never disappoints. And the more devoted to God you become, the more He will excel in His generosity towards you.

At this point I have introduced a condition for drawing the full benefit of the spiritual life. There has to be real effort. Notice in the parable that God expects his talents to be increased by work. He givesBand gives liberallyBbut He expects industry from us. We ought not to lay back and be content with what we have ben given. We advance in the spiritual life by praying every day..and by prayer I mean especially some good moments of mental prayer every day, spending time meditating on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on His Passion and His Wounds. Doing that will not only be a source of great strength for you in your daily battles, it will also give you a stability, a spiritual unshakeability in the midst of the sea of doubt and confusion that we call modern life. You will remember that if Jesus endured so much from His own, then you have no right to complain about the inconstancy and opposition from others. Your aches and pains will seem much less if you have in mind His terrible Passion. You will have reason to acquire patience and to refuse the attraction to commit sin when you remember His agony in the garden.

The Aspiritual life@ means that one understands the meaning of language such as >entering into the Heart of Jesus= or >tasting His burning love=Bphrases from the Imitation of Christ and familiar from many prayers. This inner life means that one is willing to give up his proud ways and become humble, to become one who is >wounded= by his love for Christ. That requires a certain >giving way=, a letting go of self-attachment and risking to devote oneself to the pursuit of a holy life. Is it a gamble? Surely, it is. You may lose your love for sin, become less self-willed, become less proficient in the wisdom and ways of the world. You might lose a few friends too if you are converted to Christ. You have to expect a little pain to have a greater gain. And what you gain is God, and God is all. And so, it turns out that the spiritual man alone possesses all things, although not in a possessive way. He has all in God.

Living a spiritual life is a detachment from the world, a relinquishing of selfishness. Its advantage is a kind of pleasure and peace and inner beauty can be bought nowhere else but in Christ. It=s only the spiritual man who know this and has felt it. And it is only the spiritual man who is alive in the fullest sense and who=s got the very best talents that God has given.